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Lifelines
NEWS
FROM THE
N AT I O N A L C O A L I T I O N
TO
ABOLISH
THE
D E AT H P E N A LT Y •
N U M B E R 1 0 2 • WINTER 2010
NCADP’s Louisville Success Shows Abolition
Movement Gaining Hearts, Minds and Momentum
N
CADP’s “Training for the Long Run: Building Bridges to
Wider Audiences” conference in Louisville, Kentucky more
than met expectations as the preeminent gathering of
people from around the country who are committed to ending
capital punishment in the U.S. and around the world. The excitement and energy at the conference was palpable as participants
heard about cutting-edge policies that provide more security and
safety from violent crime, and better ways of fulfilling the day-today needs of the survivors of homicide victims.
The presence of new allies, exemplifying the growing participation
of individuals and organizations from various constituencies and
viewpoints, was a key factor in the event’s success. Political and religious conservatives joined a multitude of political and religious
progressives. Law enforcement officials joined exonerated former
death row prisoners. Families of death row prisoners joined family
members of murder victims.
Celebrating the March 2009 victory of New Mexico abandoning its
death penalty law – becoming the third state in as many years to
do so – the conference centered around plenary sessions and
panels highlighting new groups in the movement that are working
with abolitionists around mutual concerns about capital punishment and practical alternatives to combating violent crime.
“The Lion of the Movement.” Anthony Amsterdam accepts his Lifetime
Achievement Award during the NCADP 2010 Awards Dinner.
1 7 0 5 D e S A L E S S T R E E T, N W
The tone was set by a panel discussion on “The State of the Death
Penalty,” and an opening address by NCADP Executive Director
Continued on Page 8
Kansas Edges Closer
to Abolition
T
hough it ended in a 20-20 tie vote on February 19, 2010 in the
state Senate, the Kansas measure to repeal its death penalty
represented a political breakthrough. “Repeal legislation had
always been stopped in committee, or through a parliamentary
procedure,” says Donna Schneweis, Coordinator for the Kansas
Coalition Against the Death Penalty. “But this year, the majority
Republican committee sent it to the Senate for a true vote.”
Important signs say Kansas is ready to reconsider. Senate President,
Republican Steve Morris, voted for repeal. Morris is one of the few
legislators still in office who supported reinstating capital punishment in 1994. Recently, Morris told the Kansas City Star, “That’s a
vote I wish I could take back.” Governor Mark Parkinson, who had
also supported it, did not threaten an automatic veto, saying, “If it
comes to my desk I will seriously study it.”
“This is the beginning of the end of the Kansas death penalty,” says
Bill Lucero, a Kansan and long-time activist with Murder Victims’
Families for Reconciliation. “We had unprecedented religious
support from eight Kansas-based Bishops, and the effort was led by
four State Senators, three Republicans and a Democrat who would
not fold under pressure.” Both Schneweis and Lucero believe
Kansas will soon repeal the death penalty because the recent
debate did not center primarily on philosophical pros and cons, but
on the reality of capital punishment. “After only about 25 capital
trials, Kansas had prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, judicial
error, inadequate representation, and another case that ended in a
mistrial and withheld evidence,” Schneweis observes. “With a track
record that bad and with so few death penalty cases, people can
see that it just doesn’t work.”
WA S H I N GTO N , D C 2 0 0 3 6
202-331-4090
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A Message from
Diann Rust-Tierney
Dear Friends:
As I write this message for Lifelines, the
last vestiges of Washington, D.C.’s
“snowmageddon” are melting. For
those of you who mock us for our lack of bravery when it comes
to the cold white stuff—yes, it really was that bad.
In a city like Washington, D.C., where taking yourself and the role
that you play in defining the course of human events too seriously is literally in the air, I always welcome the reminder that
there is still much beyond our control. Whatever great things we
might accomplish in our day jobs or our volunteer work, the most
important thing is how we look after those closest to us: Our
neighbors, our families, even ourselves.
I had a lot of time to think about our work. When I looked outside
at the 20 inches of snow that hid my car, it was hard to imagine
being able to drive it again. It was hard to imagine that I would
feel dry pavement beneath my feet again. It reminded me of
listening to family members of murder victims sharing how difficult it was to imagine a life after all that had happened.
Fact: the third state in as many years has abandoned the death
penalty, and almost a dozen states mounted serious efforts to
repeal the death penalty—many stopping just short of
winning—with steam enough left to finish the job.
The legal underpinnings of capital punishment continue to fall
away—as the American Law Institute concludes that it can no
longer recommend any model to assure that the death penalty
will operate free of bias or error. Death penalty prosecutions and
sentences continue their decline.
As winter draws to a close, gather yourself, prepare—the
struggle is on and we will win.
NCADP is proud to be here with you to help every step of the way.
Peace,
Diann
I remembered talking to mothers with sons on death row. There
was a life before the cold dead weight of the criminal justice
system descended, but that life was too hard to remember or
even imagine.
But while our hearts are struggling to see clearly, our heads know
that the sun will finally come, long enough and strong enough to
bring the thaw.
And so it is with our work. While we are winning this struggle,
the day-to-day toll is great and each lost battle: each execution—
each homicide—each unanswered need of a victim—leaves its
mark.
That is when we must cling to the facts:
Fact: the chorus of opposition to capital punishment is growing
in depth, breadth and intensity. NCADP’s annual conference
welcomed a bi-partisan, energetic constituency from all across
the country representing people of all faith traditions, people of
all races—conservatives and liberals, “pro-life” and “pro-choice”,
students, activists, lawyers and law professors, death row
exonerees and murder victims’ family members.
.
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NCADP
Looking at What Works: The
Boston Miracle
Lifelines
NCADP Lifelines is published quarterly by the National Coalition
to Abolish the Death Penalty, the nation’s oldest organization
devoted exclusively to abolishing capital punishment. Founded
in 1976, NCADP unifies a network of more than 100 Affiliate
organizations, dedicated advocates and volunteers, and prominent national human and civil rights organizations in the fight to
end the death penalty in the United States.
Subscription Information: NCADP Lifelines is distributed without
charge to NCADP members and Affiliate organizations. To find
out more about the organization, visit our website at
www.ncadp.org
Editor: Paul Ruffins
Photography: Scott Langley, Margaret Summers
Design: Linda Silk, Brecher Design Group
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
1705 DeSales Street, NW, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20036
202-331-4090
Fax: 202-331-4099
© 2010 NCADP. All rights reserved. Affiliates may reprint editorial
material without charge provided credit is given to the National
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Board of Directors
Staff
Executive Committee
Rich Curtner, Chair, Alaska
Jane Bohman, Vice Chair, Ohio
Renny Cushing, Vice Chair,
New Hampshire
H. Alexander Robinson,
Treasurer, Maryland
Claudia Whitman, Secretary,
Colorado
Executive Director
Diann Rust-Tierney
Barbara Arnwine, Washington,
D.C.
Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon,
New Mexico
Curt Crum, Texas
Rick Johnson, Virginia
Patricia Jojo Neher,
Washington, D.C.
Paul O’Shea, Virginia
Jack Payden-Travers, Virginia
Bill Pelke, Alaska
Bud Welch, Oklahoma
Deputy Director
Sachin Chheda
Director of Affiliate Support
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director of Development
Chris Rutledge
Director of Communications
Margaret Summers
Office Manager
Alicia Simmons
Training Consultant
Aimee Gabel
Intern
Kari Simms
B Y PAU L R U F F I N S
A
ctivists, criminal justice and
law enforcement communities
seeking effective and
cooperative strategies for reducing
crime and violence that lead to capital
punishment – a flawed and ineffective
crime deterrent – often study the “Boston
Miracle.” Between 1990 and 1996, Boston
experienced the nation’s sharpest decrease in
homicides. Killings dropped from 152 to 59, an
amazing 67%. They declined even further to 35
in 1998. Perhaps most importantly, in the 29 months
ending in January 1998, not a single juvenile was
killed in the entire city, and overall gun crimes
dropped 70%.
David Harris, Managing Director of the Charles
Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at
Harvard Law School, declares, “That effort was a great
model of success at the time. At the most basic level,
it involved giving honest neighborhood residents, criminal suspects, and
even gangbangers and the police department some real choices about
their priorities and actions concerning public safety.”
The “Miracle” began when two important constituencies, the black
religious community and the Boston Police Department (BPD), each experienced a crisis that forced them to seek new partnerships and solutions to
the crack cocaine wars of the 1990s. The BPD had been rocked by incidents
of racism and corruption that led to the resignation of the Police Chief.
A group of black clergy formed the 10 Point Coalition* after the home of
minister Eugene Rivers, a frequent critic of the police, was fired upon by
drug dealers, and an incident when gangbangers brazenly attacked a
packed church during a rival’s funeral.
The Coalition began a variety of activities including religious outreach,
counseling, and using street workers to reach out to gang members and
gather community-based information about potential violence. In June
1996, the Coalition and the BPD pioneered Operation Ceasefire, a tightly
focused anti-gang tactic involving close coordination between ministers,
police, parole officers and social workers. One key element of the Boston
Miracle is that it placed a priority on getting guns out of the community,
which diverged from the law enforcement strategy of the day in Boston
and in most other communities, which focused on arrests and prosecutions
for drug possession. The 10 Point Coalition arranged meetings where gangs
tried to reach truces over past shootings and turf battles. The police used
their discretion to strike an unofficial bargain not to pursue many smalltime criminals on old charges as long as they stayed out of new trouble.
Continued on Page 11
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Books From the
Abolition Library
The Crying Tree
by Naseem Rakha
Broadway Books, New York, 2009
Reviewed by David McNeil
Former NPR correspondent Naseem Rakha
had never thought much about state killing
until she was assigned in 1996 to cover Oregon’s first modern
execution. Of her interviews with inmates, victim family members
and corrections personnel, she writes: “I heard many stories, some
of them abhorrent and some heartbreaking, but by far the most
compelling were those told by the people who had come to terms
with the murder of a loved one and no longer felt it necessary to
seek retribution. This arc, from the most desperate kind of anguish
to reconciliation and even love, stunned me and compelled me to
write The Crying Tree.”
The story opens with Irene and Nate Stanley’s move with their two
children from Illinois to the high desert of Oregon, followed by the
murder of their son Shep a year later. The killer, Daniel Robbin, is
quickly caught, tried and sentenced to death, and the Stanleys
return to Illinois. The remainder of the book traces the effects of
this crime and proposed punishment on Irene and Nate, on Shep’s
younger sister Bliss, on the warden of the Oregon State
Penitentiary, Tab Mason, and on their relationships with one
another during Robbin’s nineteen years on death row.
Rakha artfully alternates between two sub-plots, one focusing on
Irene’s struggle to come to terms with her son’s death and the
devastation it causes her family, the other on Mason’s attempts
over a hurried four weeks to prepare himself, his staff and the
condemned man for an execution. The plots converge in gripping
fashion in Salem, Oregon, a few days before the deed is to be done.
Rakha powerfully evokes how brutal violence permeates, alters and
can overwhelm the lives and relationships of surviving family
members as well as executioners.
The novel also portrays, however, the extraordinary capacity of
human beings to heal the deepest anguish through courage,
integrity and love. After nine years of being consumed by her desire
for retribution, Irene discovers that her only options are forgiveness
or death. Choosing the former, the road she takes to Salem
(Shalom, or peace) is still a difficult, ten-year journey. The plot
twists and the ending may or may not be predictable, but Irene’s
journey is inspiring and real. It is the source of the moral authority
with which homicide survivors opposing the death penalty speak.
David McNeil is a member of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty.
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The Ride: A Shocking Murder and a Bereaved
Father’s Journey from Rage to Redemption
By Brian MacQuarrie
DaCapo Books, Massachusetts, 2009
Reviewed by Paul Ruffins
The title of Boston Globe reporter Brian
MacQuarrie’s gripping true story could refer to
many events: The last bike ride of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, who innocently peddled over to meet
two sexual predators; the car ride from which he would never
return; or the years-long emotional roller-coaster that swept up
Jeffrey’s father, the book’s main character. The crime catapulted Bob
Curley, a divorced firefighter, into the center of the emotionallycharged legislative battle to reinstate Massachusetts’ death
penalty. In 1997, when Jeffrey was killed, Curley loudly supported
the initiative which was defeated in a cliff-hanging tie vote. But
after it was reintroduced in 1999, Curley came to actively oppose
capital punishment.
Part of Curley’s conversion came from experiencing the arbitrary
nature of the criminal justice system. Curley watched the lessculpable defendant, who quickly admitted his role in the crime and
helped police locate Jeffrey’s body, be convicted of first degree
murder. Jeffrey’s actual killer was convicted of a lesser charge
carrying the possibility of parole. Curley, a veteran, was also moved
by the story of Manny Babbitt, a former Marine with schizophrenia
who killed an elderly woman in California. The police promised that
Manny’s mental illness would mean confinement to a locked
psychiatric facility. Instead, he was executed.
Ultimately, the biggest factor in Curley’s change of heart was
coming face to face with some murder victims’ parents and relatives who opposed the death penalty – including Bud Welch, a
member of NCADP’s Board of Directors who lost his daughter in
the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing. Curley expected
“left wing burnouts,” but instead found “…regular guys, men who
spoke straight from the heart and knew firsthand the horrible pain
of murder.”
Parts of “The Ride” are almost too painful to read, but the
lesson is worth the journey: Contact changes more minds than
confrontation.
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One Christian’s Perspective
on the Death Penalty
B Y R E V E R E N D M AT T R A N D L E S
I
n the Easter season, we remember Jesus’ crucifixion and death
for the sin of the world. Christians declare that Jesus’ death
brings life, so how can we then demand the death of certain
criminals?
The Old Testament says, “You are to take life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth.” But developing a biblical understanding of capital
punishment isn’t as simple as appropriating select verses from the
Old Testament. Are we prepared to execute those who curse their
parents or worship other gods? These are also capital offenses in
the Bible.
In light of the New Testament, we don’t follow Old Testament regulations about such things as burnt offerings, building codes, or
dietary laws. Jesus addressed “eye for an eye” and said, “Turn the
other cheek.” He talked about murder but focused on the root issue
of anger. And when faced with an actual situation—a woman
guilty of adultery—he called for the one without sin to cast the
first stone.
A biblical understanding of capital punishment isn’t a matter of
assembling proof texts; it must be consistent with the gospel: that
God redeems the worst people—and even calls them to do great
things.
Consider the Apostle Paul: He originally persecuted Christians,
overseeing the lynching of a Christian named Stephen. Consider
Moses: before leading Israel out of slavery, he murdered an
Egyptian. Consider King David: he seduced a woman and engineered her husband’s death. Yet, he is called a man after God’s own
heart!
These stories aren’t
incidental; they’re at
the core of the
Christian faith. Central to Christianity is
the principle that
those who have received mercy are to be
merciful, renouncing
retribution.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we abandon the rule of law. But
perfect justice will only come from God; ours will always be tainted
by mistakes, bias, and injustice. We cannot administer perfect
justice; we must therefore not use irreversible methods.
Is fighting the death penalty worthwhile? Aren’t there more important priorities; poverty, homelessness, world hunger? But think
about who Jesus stood up for: The guilty, the prostitutes, the
sinners. Whom did he criticize? The self-righteous, the judgmental,
those interested in maintaining the status quo. So, in speaking up
for those that society disdains and against a corrupt system, we are
speaking the language of Jesus. Jesus’ own death was unjust;
Christians, then, of all people, should oppose a system that is
impossibly flawed.
Reverend Randles is the Pastor of Headwaters Covenant Church in Helena,
Montana. This article is a version of his address delivered at the National
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty January 2010 national conference in
Louisville, Kentucky.
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t “We who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes.” Phyllis Prentice,
wife of death row exoneree Shujaa Graham, opens the conference with “Ella’s
Song” by African American cultural activist Bernice Johnson Reagon.
qRay Krone, Witness to Innocence Director of Communications and Training,
describes his experience as a death row exoneree.
qRonald E. Hampton (center), Executive Director, National
Black Police Association, Inc., said the law enforcement community feels the death penalty is the least effective crime prevention tool. Also participating in the “Getting Smarter on
Crime” panel were (left) Dr. Allen Ault, Dean of the College of
Justice and Safety, Eastern Kentucky University, and (right) Dick
Dieter, Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center.
uEric Dodge helps a
conference participant with
an action project at the
Abolition Action Center, a
new feature at the event.
uSister Helen Prejean urges NCADP
conferees to build bridges to wider
audiences during her keynote speech.
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391153_NC:391153_NC 3/31/10 11:16 PM Page 7
uPatrick Delahanty, Chair of the Kentucky
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,
welcomes NCADP conferees.
tParticipants on a panel entitled “Conservative
Voices Opposing the Death Penalty” listen to a
question from the audience. From left: Matt
Randles, Pastor, Headwaters Covenant Church,
Helena, Montana; Montana State Senator Roy
Brown; Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director,
Americans United for Separation of Church
and State.
qStephen B. Bright, President and Senior Counsel,
Southern Center for Human Rights, presenting Edward
J. Monahan (left) and Daniel T. Goyette (center) of the
Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy with the
NCADP 2010 Outstanding Legal Service Award.
pMagdaleno Leno Rose-Avila (far left)
and New Mexico State Representative
Gail Chasey (fifth from left) congratulate the New Mexico Coalition to
Repeal the Death Penalty on receiving
the NCADP 2010 Lighting the Torch of
Conscience Award. Second from left:
Patrick Tyrrell, Cathy Ansheles, Coalition
Executive Director Viki Elkey, NCADP
Board of Directors member Juan
Melendez, and Judi Caruso.
pNCADP Board of Directors Chair F. Richard Curtner presents
New Mexico State Representative Gail Chasey with the NCADP
2010 Abolitionist of the Year Award. New Mexico Governor Bill
Richardson was also a 2010 Abolitionist of the Year awardee.
tSister Helen Prejean (center) and Magdaleno Leno
Rose-Avila, Executive Director, Social Justice Fund
Northwest,congratulate singer-songwriter Steve Earle
(left) on NCADP’s first-ever Shining Star of Abolition
Award.
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Cover Story From Page 1
Diann Rust-Tierney. In the address, Rust-Tierney urged conferees to
continue strengthening and broadening the abolition movement
by building common ground across diverse political parties, racial
backgrounds and faith communities. Abolitionists, she said, must
become part of the overall criminal justice solution that addresses
societal and crime victims’ families’ needs.
“We are growing,” said Rust-Tierney. “Where once most of us were
drawn to this work because we could not countenance the spectacle of the government strapping any human being into an electric chair, gas chamber or on a gurney, we have opened our arms
wider and broadened our reach to embrace surviving families of
murdered loved ones.”
Rust-Tierney continued, “Our recognition of the humanity of the
perpetrator includes an understanding that such recognition
demands accountability. And with equal concern we recognize and
abhor the dehumanization of the person who was lost to murder.
These are values that we have always held – sometimes obscured
in the day-to-day press of the struggle, the heat of battle and the
jargon of the work. We know now the importance of doing a better
job of articulating and demonstrating these principles that lie deep
within our hearts.”
CO N S E R VAT I V E S A G A I N ST T H E D E AT H P E N A LT Y
Barry Lynn, the Executive Director of Americans for Separation of
Church and State, moderated a panel featuring a video clip of Jay
Alan Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and
Justice, who discussed his personal objections to capital punishment.
Titled “Conservative Voices Opposing the Death Penalty,” the panel
focused on the increasing number of Republicans and others whose
opposition to capital punishment stems from their conservative principles. Speakers included Montana State Senator
Roy Brown, a former Republican nominee for
governor; Reverend Matt Randles (see Reverend
Randles’ article on page five) of Headwaters
Covenant Church in Helena, Montana; and
Heather Hass, a former staffer for the National
Republican Congressional Committee.
NCADP Director of Affiliate Support Abe Bonowitz (far right) and
other participants join hands and sing during the interfaith service
that concluded the 2010 NCADP conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
protecting communities from violent offenders. Panelists included
former police officer Redditt Hudson, a Program Associate at the
ACLU of Eastern Missouri; Dr. George Kain, a police commissioner in
Ridgefield, Connecticut and a Board member of the Connecticut
Network to Abolish the Death Penalty; Laura Porter, Director of
Organizing for Equal Justice USA; and Denver Schimming, an
Organizer with Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
FA M I LY M E M B E R S O F H O M I C I D E V I C T I M S
Surviving parents, spouses, children, siblings and relatives of
murder victims have a stake in the death penalty debate, and are
providing leadership on the issue. The 2010 conference drew more
of these survivors than ever before. A special reception sponsored
by Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation (MVFR) and Murder
Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) was held during the
conference to honor their commitment to ending capital punishment. Additionally, during the plenary session “Innovative and
Effective Responses to Crime and Violence,” Susan Herman, former
Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime,
discussed the failures of the current criminal justice system in
responding to the needs of violence
victims and their families.
E X P E R I E N C E , I N S P I R AT I O N
AN D ACTIVISM
Participants at the conference were
emotionally moved by several conference events. A passionate address by
“We are building a big tent, with sturdy stakes
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, President and
of opposition to government institutions in the
CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, about the
Reverend Lennox Yearwood (left) of the Hip Hop
business of killing as part of our criminal justice
Caucus which encourages urban youth to become abolition movement building bridges to
activists, greets Troy Davis’ sister Martina Correia
policy,” said Rust-Tierney.
urban youth brought the audience to its
after speaking in the plenary session “People
feet. Keynote speaker Sister Helen
Affected by the Criminal Justice System.”
P O L I C E A N D CO R R E C T I O N S
Prejean, known internationally for her
OFFICERS
advocacy and pastoral work with death row prisoners and violence
Conferees heard about law enforcement efforts to keep communivictims, further energized participants. Several “Voices of
ties safer and hold offenders accountable, and ways in which the
Experience,” including well-known activists Bud Welch, Henderson
abolition movement and the criminal justice community could
Hill, Vicki Schieber and Martina Correia, put a human face on the
more effectively work together on these issues. For example, during
death penalty issue.
the “Reaching Out to Law Enforcement” panel, speakers encouraged abolitionists to learn about and understand police culture
The conference marked the addition of a new feature, the
and work with them on the goals they share in common, such as
“Abolition Action Center” where participants could transform what
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Abolition on Global Stage at Fourth World Congress Against
the Death Penalty
A
bolitionists, human rights activists, death row exonerees,
attorneys, murder victims’ family members, students and
NGOs (non-government organizations) gathered in
Geneva, Switzerland this winter for the Fourth World Congress
against the Death Penalty. The Congress, held from February 24February 26, 2010 in the city’s International Conference Center, was
organized by the French organization Ensemble Contre la Peine de
Mort under the patronage of the Swiss Confederation and in
partnership with the World
Coalition Against the Death
Penalty.
The Congresses bring individuals and organizations
together to devise strategies
for ending capital punishment around the world. This
year the focus was on participants from retentionist
nations, with a special appeal
to them to work to rid their
respective countries of the
punishment.
Anti-death penalty activists
from several countries participated as keynote speakers
or panelists, including Sister
Helen Prejean, author of the
book “Dead Man Walking.”
New Mexico State Representative Gail Chasey, who authored her state’s repeal bill, also
attended.
Because the gathering was in Geneva, a city known for championing human rights internationally, the event also focused on the
international diplomatic community, especially participants in the
session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Fourth World Congress concluded with a Final Declaration
addressed to the world, which reads in part:
“We reconfirm that the death penalty may in no
circumstances be regarded as an appropriate response
to the violence and tensions which permeate through
our societies, taking into account the emotional
burden they create, particularly in the context of
terrorism,
”We call, from the host city of international organizations and a symbol of peace:
• The de facto abolitionist states to enact legislation abolishing the death penalty in law;
• The abolitionist states to integrate the issue of
universal abolition in their international relations by
making it a major focus of their international policy of
promoting human rights;
• The international and regional organizations, to
support the universal abolition of the death penalty
including the adoption of resolutions calling for a
moratorium on executions, by supporting educational
activities, and increased cooperation with abolitionist
NGOs that act locally;
• Abolitionist organizations and actors from retentionist states to unite their strength and determination in creating and developing national and regional
coalitions, with the aim to promote locally, the universal abolition
of capital punishment.”
Cover Story From Page 8
they had learned at the conference into specific actions
such as making “Shouting from the Rooftops” videos (see
http://www.shoutingfromtherooftops.org), writing letters to
editors of newspapers, and submitting formal comments to
legislative committees and state corrections agencies.
N C A D P AWA R D S D I N N E R
The capstone of the conference opened with the stirring drumbeats of the River City Drum Corp, a Kentucky youth marching band
trained in African drumming techniques and materials. The audience rose repeatedly in enthusiastic standing ovations to honor
Lifetime Achievement Award winner Anthony Amsterdam, a New
York University School of Law professor who is considered the
movement “Lion” for his years of successful legal attacks on capital
punishment; New Mexico State Rep. Gail Chasey, who, along with
Governor Bill Richardson, won the Abolitionist of the Year Award for
the passage and enactment of New Mexico’s repeal law; the New
Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty, the winner of the
Lighting the Torch of Conscience Award for its years of hard work
leading to repeal; the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, the
winner of the Outstanding Legal Service Award, for exemplary and
dedicated representation of indigent clients; and singer-songwriter
Steve Earle, winner of the first-ever Shining Star of Abolition Award,
for his lifelong commitment to communicating the injustice of the
death penalty through his art.
IN THE SPIRIT
The conference closed with the “Praise and Healing Ceremony: An
Interfaith Celebration.” The multi-media spiritual gathering
featured music, dance, art and prayer designed to form a healing
vision uniting everyone in the common effort to end capital
punishment.
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Q & A With Barbara Arnwine
Barbara Arnwine is a new member of the
NCADP Board of Directors. Arnwine, who is
the Executive Director of the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is
internationally renowned for contributions on critical justice issues including the
passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of
1991. A graduate of Scripps College and
Duke University School of Law, she continues to champion civil rights
issues nationally and internationally in the areas of housing, fair
lending, community development, employment voting, education
and environmental justice. A prominent leader in the civil rights
community, Arnwine also continues to fight for the preservation of
affirmative action and diversity programs.
Q: What drives your involvement
with NCADP?
A: It grows out of my evolution
as a civil rights lawyer. I saw a
lot of violence growing up in
South Central L.A., where black
life just seemed to be devalued.
I started asking questions about
race, income and privilege in the
criminal justice system when I
was a teenager and saw people
who had killed black folks get
back out of jail in three years.
Later, I went to law school and
became obsessed with the
issue of prosecutorial discretion.
Q: Is there anyone who inspired
you?
A: Myrlie Evers, she taught at
Scripps College. Even though
her husband (Mississippi civil
rights activist Medgar Evers)
was murdered in front of her
home, she remained a sweet
and loving person. Decades
later when the murderer was
finally prosecuted, she opposed
killing him.
Q: Did you have a specific “Ah ha”
moment?
10
NCADP
Lifelines
A: In the mid-eighties the issue
literally came to my doorstep.
My brother was shot and killed
when he was mistaken for
another guy. Some people in
my family said, “This is not a
matter of politics, or the racism
of the criminal justice system,
we want revenge.” Somehow,
the desire for vengeance
became the measure of how
much we loved my brother. I
had to step in and say, “Sure we
loved him, but what justice is
being served by putting
another person into the
ground?” Debating my own
family showed me just how
opposed I was on strictly moral
grounds.
Q: How has being a family
member of a murder victim
impacted your work?
A: Well, the first thing a lot of
pro-death penalty people say is,
“Well you’d support capital
punishment if someone in your
family was murdered.” When
they find out about my brother,
it freaks them out. They can’t
imagine that a tragedy like that
might make you treasure life
even more.
Sachin Chheda Becomes
NCADP’s Deputy Director
N
CADP was happy to announce at
this year’s Annual Conference that
Sachin Chheda has come on board
as its new Deputy Director, overseeing field,
political, communications and outreach
efforts. A life-long opponent of capital
punishment, Chheda came actively to the
abolition movement when he
was hired to lead the “No
Death Penalty Wisconsin”
“NCADP is focused on
campaign in 2006, working to
what matters most –
defeat the return of the death
penalty in Wisconsin after
building a grassroots
more than 150 years.
constituency for
“I’m excited to be working
policy change.”
with NCADP full-time,” says
Chheda. “Our movement has
tremendous momentum, and we are building a great team to
work state-by-state through NCADP, our Affiliates, and our many
partners across the nation.”
Chheda has been a consultant to NCADP, working to help state
campaigns and to build NCADP’s online presence. In more than 17
years as a nonprofit, advocacy, campaign and government relations
professional, he has worked as a senior aide to Wisconsin Governor
Jim Doyle, organized parents of lead-poisoned children, managed
candidates for federal, state and local office, and assisted labor
unions and nonprofit advocacy groups in reaching their political
goals.
“NCADP is focused on what matters most – building a grassroots
constituency for policy change,” says Chheda. “I think we will see
the end of the death penalty in the U.S. in my lifetime.”
Chheda lives in Milwaukee with his wife Angela McManaman, an
editor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and their three
children.
NCADP Deputy Director
Sachin Chheda (right)
answers a question during
a conference workshop on
diversity and abolition campaigns, as Abe Bonowitz
(left) NCADP Director of
Affiliate Support, and
Reginald Shuford (center),
Senior Staff Council in the
ACLU Foundation’s Racial
Justice Program, listen.
391153_NC:391153_NC 3/31/10 11:16 PM Page 11
Celebrating the Heroes and
Sheroes
B Y M A G DA L E N O L E N O R O S E - AV I L A
I
must tell you that it was
humbling for me to be at the
(2010) Conference of the
National Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty. Every place I looked
there were men and women who
are doing incredible work to
protect the lives of others and
make our society better. These
people help us all to heal.
We have been led to believe that
the only heroes are those that wear uniforms when in fact some of
the REAL HEROES are folks who have never worn a uniform but
who perform miracles and risk everything more than once. Some
day a President when giving the State of the Union Address will
have an Abolitionist, Peace Activist, Feminist, Environmentalist,
Immigrant Rights Activist, LGBTQ Spokesperson sitting with the
First Lady and the President will recognize these heroes as being an
important part of the fabric of America.
At the NCADP Conference there were exonorees, murder victims’
families, and the families of death row inmates, lawyers, paralegals,
religious folks, atheists, organizers, and many more. They came in
all shapes, sizes, ages, from all over the country and some from
other countries. They were common people who do
incredible uncommon acts of humanity.
I got to MC the awards dinner where we heard from
the voices of New Mexico and their victory, we got to
hear lawyers like Steve Bright, Tony Amsterdam and
others, we got to hear Sister Helen as she recognized
singer Steve Earle who moved our minds and hearts
with his music…As I looked around the hall and saw so
many great individuals, I had to remind myself that
there were in fact thousands of others across this
country who were also working hard to make our
society more civil and just…and for some reason could
not be in the room with us that night.
I am blessed to be part of such a wonderful movement that makes
us all better because we give of ourselves …
So to all the Heroes and Sheroes I want to let you know that we
celebrate your lives and dreams …thank you for all you do and
dream.
Boston MIracle From Page 3
targeted by Operation Ceasefire. He concluded that just weeks
The peace was enforced through both “carrots” and “sticks.” In
after it was instituted, there was a 63% reduction in Boston’s
return for putting down their weapons, gangs, criminals and
monthly youth homicide rate, which no other city in the country
addicts were offered the “carrots” of city services such as drug treatcould match.
ment, job training, GED tutoring, employment, and health care. The
“sticks” included a program called “Pulling Levers.” If
Some criminologists have questioned how much
gangs or individuals persisted in violence, the minisof the Boston experience can be replicated elseters threatened to “drop a dime” and contact police,
just
weeks
after
where. For example, Harvard researcher
helping them leverage all available criminal and civil
sanctions. These ranged from zero tolerance of bail
it was instituted, Christopher Winship believes that the ministers’
greatest impact wasn’t their religious outreach or
and parole violations, to arrests for delinquent child
there was a
social programs, which were fairly small in scope,
support payments, or towing cars for unpaid parking
63%
reduction
but in serving as trusted intermediaries who could
tickets.
help align the safety concerns of black and Latino
in Boston’s
communities, with the financial and human
This approach was controversial. Many police officers
monthly youth
resources of the city and the police.
strongly resented the idea of any negotiations with
criminals. Some civil liberties groups were troubled
homicide rate
But Professor Harris of the Charles Hamilton
about targeting entire gangs for the actions of a few
Houston Institute believes that such partnership
individuals, or using civil regulations and penalties as
models can be used in other cities. “One problem
tools in criminal cases. Nevertheless, there was a
with
the
Boston
Miracle,” he said, “is the very name itself, which
dramatic decrease in neighborhood violence, which was also
makes it seem like an act of God. This obscures all the risks and very
accompanied by a drop in juvenile arrests and convictions, and ultihard work that went into building the relationships that made it
mately fewer complaints against the police.
possible.”
The Boston Miracle has been subjected to extensive academic
*To read the Coalition’s 10 Point Plan visit http:// www.bostontenpoint.org/
research. Anthony Braga of the Kennedy School of Government,
tenpointplan.html
examined the killings of people 14 to 24 years old, the exact group
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391153_NC:391153_NC 3/31/10 11:16 PM Page 12
Non-profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
NATIONAL COALITION TO
ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
1705 DeSales Street, NW, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20036
202.331.4090 Fax 202.331.4099
PA I D
Washington, D.C.
Permit No. 211
www.ncadp.org
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Save The Date: NCADP’s Next Annual Conference
JANUARY 13 – 16, 2011
THE RENAISSANCE CHICAGO DOWNTOWN HOTEL
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Lifelines
Keeping Up Between
the Lifelines
NCADP provides several ways to keep up with
breaking news and action opportunities.
Visit NCADP's web page to sign up on our
email list to receive action alerts, for links to
breaking news, commentary by Executive
Director Diann Rust-Tierney and others on
our blog and in the Huffington Post, and
ways to weigh in with your own involvement.
Onward to Abolition!
The energetic marching rhythms of Louisville's River City
Drum Corp opened the NCADP 2010 Awards Dinner.
12
NCADP
Lifelines
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at http://www.causes.com/ncadp.
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http://twitter.com/ncadp.